


In Vino Veritas

by Kaslyna



Category: Snowpiercer (TV 2020)
Genre: Background season 2 speculation, Based LOOSELY on my own poor life choices, Clay lives because I said so, Crack, Drinking, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Poor Life Choices
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:54:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25983925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaslyna/pseuds/Kaslyna
Summary: Ruth huffed, then looked down at Melanie’s hands and asked, “What have you got there?”“Whiskey,” Melanie offered a tentative smile, “Courtesy of the night car. Don’t worry, it’s not poisoned. Had a sip when I first got it, and that was about half an hour ago. As you can see, I’m perfectly fine.”“Some gift then,” Ruth scoffed, “If you’re already drinking from it.”“Oh it’s not a gift,” when Ruth raised an eyebrow in annoyed disbelief Melanie continued, “Miss Audrey’s idea. We’re going to drink this entire thing together until we’re more shitfaced than we ever were in our twenties and are too sick to go to work in the morning.”~Or, the one in which Melanie is upset that Ruth won't talk to her, and Miss Audrey comes up with a truly chaotic idea about how to get back in her good graces.
Relationships: Bennett Knox & Ruth Wardell, Melanie Cavill & Ruth Wardell, Melanie Cavill/Bennett Knox, Miss Audrey & Melanie Cavill
Kudos: 18





	In Vino Veritas

**Author's Note:**

> Hi this is pure crack because I was telling aflawedfashion about some of my stupider life choices and said something like, "at least in college you can solve political disputes by getting really fucking wasted together" and she prompted me to write something with that for Melanie and Ruth after the first season. I will explain the full story in the end notes so you guys can judge me I guess.

“It just… hasn’t been the same, since the revolution, and all that business with Wilford,” Melanie attempted to look anywhere but at Miss Audrey, sitting across from her during a session, “I don’t know how to get through to her. I just want her to understand.”

“I… _may_ have an idea,” Miss Audrey watched the other woman’s head shoot up, a hopeful look on her face, “Do you have anything else you’d like to talk about today?”

“No,” Melanie shook her head, a confused look on her face, “Why?”

“Come,” Miss Audrey stood and extended her hand, “We’re going to talk to Clay.”

Melanie allowed herself to be escorted to the night car’s bar, becoming increasingly puzzled about what the other woman’s idea might be. The fact that _they_ were getting along when Ruth wouldn’t even talk to her anymore was almost funny. Miss Audrey insisted she be the one for all of Melanie’s sessions, to give her some consistency, because she knew how difficult it was for Melanie to open up to people. It was one of the kindest things anyone on the train had done for her.

“Clay,” Miss Audrey greeted the bartender, “What have we got to spare a whole bottle of?”

“Uhhh… whiskey or rum?” he raised his eyebrows at her, clearly as lost as Melanie was. It was some comfort, she supposed.

“What’s Ruth’s preference?” Miss Audrey asked her, and Melanie was beginning to get a clearer picture.

“Whiskey,” Melanie replied, “Though I’m not sure gifting a bottle of whiskey is gonna cut it.”

“Oh it’s not a gift,” Miss Audrey scoffed, “Get drunk. Together.”

“What?” Melanie blinked, taken aback. She then tried to remember the last time she’d been drunk; maybe two or three years ago, with Bennett and Jinju. She did her best to avoid being in such a state, priding herself for being alert and at the ready at any given time.

“Sometimes,” Miss Audrey smiled at her as Clay shoved a bottle into her hands, “The _only_ way to patch things up with someone is to make a complete fool of yourself with them and vice versa. If you know just how stupid the other person is drunk, it can create bonds.”

“That… doesn’t sound credible, but okay,” Melanie’s voice was wary.

“You’ll see,” Clay told her with a smile, “Just keep some water nearby for the hangover tomorrow. It’ll probably be a bad one.”

“Now, go, get back into Ruth’s good graces,” Miss Audrey shooed her.

“I’ll try,” Melanie muttered on a shaky exhale.

As soon as she left the night car she stopped, opened the bottle, and sniffed. It seemed innocuous enough, but one could never be too sure on this train, especially in such uncertain times. So she shrugged, and took a swig of it. She capped it, and was on her way, taking the subtrain so she didn’t have to walk the full length of the train and have to explain to someone why she was walking around with a bottle of whiskey at 15:00 on a Tuesday.

Melanie took a moment to collect herself outside of the door to the hospitality office. Taking a deep breath, she knocked. After a minute when no one answered, she knocked again, more incessantly this time. She still had access to the room-engineers had access to most everywhere-but she figured they’d start off on the wrong foot if she just barged in on Ruth.

“What do _you_ want?” Ruth sneered as she opened the door, “Can’t you see I’m busy?”

“Head of hospitality isn’t an easy job Ruth, but you’re the most qualified person for it,” Melanie responded, deflating a little. No matter what she did, she’d be starting off on the wrong foot with Ruth these days anyways.

Ruth huffed, then looked down at Melanie’s hands and asked, “What have you got there?”

“Whiskey,” Melanie offered a tentative smile, “Courtesy of the night car. Don’t worry, it’s not poisoned. Had a sip when I first got it, and that was about half an hour ago. As you can see, I’m perfectly fine.”

“Some gift then,” Ruth scoffed, “If you’re already drinking from it.”

“Oh it’s not a gift,” when Ruth raised an eyebrow in annoyed disbelief Melanie continued, “Miss Audrey’s idea. We’re going to drink this entire thing together until we’re more shitfaced than we ever were in our twenties and are too sick to go to work in the morning.”

“And that’s supposed to be appealing?” Ruth attempted to keep her tone steely, but Melanie knew her well enough to know that cracks were forming in the armor Ruth had surrounded her heart in.

Melanie just shrugged, “Well, we’ve had a rough revolution. We’re almost in Chicago, we have Big Alice, everyone who was willing to be integrated has been. Let’s celebrate, at the least.”

Ruth opened her mouth, likely to make a scathing comment about how Wilford had been killed by her yet again, but she shut it just as quickly as she realized that Melanie had also lost her daughter for a second time in the chaos. No matter how she felt about her, Ruth would not stoop so low.

“Fuck it,” Ruth sighed heavily, reaching out a hand, “Give me the damn bottle.”

She took a hearty swig of it, wincing at the burn before handing it back to Melanie, who did the same.

At some point they ended up lying on the floor underneath the interrogation table. Ruth’s jacket had been discarded somewhere; Melanie’s jumpsuit was down to her hips. Both of their shoes were lost somewhere indeterminable. There was only a quarter of the bottle left.

“I don’t think I’ve ever drank straight from the bottle before,” Ruth admitted, laughing a little, “It feels quite a bit mischievous, like someone will catch us and reprimand us for it.”

“God,” Melanie took a drink and passed it, “The last time I did was my finals’ week senior year of undergrad. There’s a reason I haven’t done that in twenty or so years. We’re going to pay for this tomorrow, trust me.”

“Well at least we’re having fun now,” Ruth conceded, taking another drink and then offering it back to Melanie, “I think I’m done now. You can finish the rest.”

Melanie didn’t need to be told twice, knocking the last of the bottle back in one go, laying back and shuddering after. She threw an arm over her face and sighed. She felt pleasantly warm. Not quite happy, but when the bad memories unwillingly came she felt numb rather than hurt, and she’d count that as a win. There were very few wins on Snowpiercer, after all. She peeked out from under her arm at Ruth, and laughed.

“What?” Ruth looked affronted.

“Your hair is half undone,” Melanie’s laughter became louder.

“Yeah, well,” Ruth glowered, “We can’t all keep our hair down these days now, can we?”

“You could,” Melanie’s voice was soft as she rolled even closer, “Don’t sacrifice your comfort for these people. It never ends well. As you can see.”

She gestured to herself and Ruth rolled her eyes, looking back at the underside of the table again.

“Don’t think I’ve ever seen a table with no gum stuck underneath it ever either,” Ruth contemplated.

“You’ve lain beneath a table before?” Melanie asked, her voice playful, “And do we even have gum left?”

“In the black market, I’m sure,” Ruth mused, “Not for the rest of us regular folk who try to keep everything on the up and up.”

“That’s shitty,” Melanie frowned, looking at the table again too, “What time is it?”

Ruth squinted at her watch, “19:36.”

“Shit,” Melanie bolted upright, smacking her head in the process, “Ow. Shit!”

“What is it?” Ruth asked, concerned, watching Melanie closely as she scooted out from under the table, “Do you need to go to the infirmary?”

“No,” Melanie groaned, burying her face in her hands, “My shift at the helm started at 19:00. Oh Javi is gonna _kill_ me. Shit.”

“Well we can try to call the engine,” Ruth suggested.

“I’m hungry,” Melanie informed her out of nowhere, brightening as an idea formed in her mind, “Do you think we can get snacks too if we call them?”

“We might have a chance at getting Miles to get us some,” Ruth’s face lit up, “We did skip dinner after all.”

“I haven’t eaten since 06:00,” Melanie winced at the revelation it caused, “God, I’m so fucked up right now. Ben’s gonna have to cover my shift tonight _and_ tomorrow afternoon. Think I should get him a bottle of whiskey too?”

“Best not,” Ruth replied, “Now, where is that phone?”

“Definitely fucked up,” Melanie let out a shaky breath as she stood, wobbling, gripping the table behind her for support, “Shit.”

“I think I’m pretty drunk too,” Ruth reported as she attempted to stand too, “Don’t know who’ll cover me tomorrow though.”

“Shit, Ruth, sorry,” Melanie slurred distractedly as she began looking for the phone in the booth, “Should have waited for your day off. But I missed you and I didn’t want to spend more time fighting.”

“Aw, Mel,” Ruth blubbered as she stumbled towards her to hug her from behind, “I missed you too.”

“Where’s the fucking phone in here?” Melanie blew hair out of her face as she continued to run her hands over the surface of the desk in the booth.

“I have no idea,” Ruth’s voice was muffled by the back of her shirt, “Your hair smells really good.”

Melanie laughed, then paused, considering for a moment before whispering excitedly, “Ruth!”

“What?” Ruth stood back from her, so unsteady she nearly fell.

“The microphone,” Melanie grinned at it in a way that could only be described as predatory.

“Oh no, Mel,” Ruth breathed, suddenly feeling slightly more sober. _Slightly_.

“What? We can’t find the phone, so this is the next best thing,” Melanie gestured at it, “I don’t see what the problem is.”

“Everyone on the bloody train will hear us. _Everyone_ ,” Ruth hissed, “They can’t know we spent our entire evening getting plastered in the hospitality office.”

“Okay,” Melanie nodded, pretending to assess the idea, “But also I forgot which way the engine is _and_ where Ben’s room is, so I’m not leaving this room unless we get a hold of someone sober.”

Ruth blinked, staring off in the distance, “Huh. I can’t remember where _my_ room is either.”

“Well if we’re all in agreement then,” Melanie said, and before Ruth could stop her she had pressed the button to turn the microphone on for an announcement. Ruth cursed under her breath, gesturing at Melanie to cut it out. Melanie wiggled her brows at her playfully in response.

“Mel!” she whimpered as loudly as she dared, “Mel, turn that thing off _right now_!”

Ignoring her, Melanie leaned in way too close to the microphone and yelled so loud that the speakers gave a shrill screech that made Ruth cover her ears and the curses come out of her mouth again, “Bennett to the hospitality office! Or Javi. Or Miles. Or even Layton. Actually, maybe not Layton, we don’t want to bother him, he’s very busy these days. Oh, and bring food, we’re stuck in here and we’re hungry. We don’t know where the phone is either, and we’re really-”

“That’s enough,” Ruth gasped, shoving Melanie out of the way and speaking into the microphone, “Ignore that all passengers, please. There is no emergency, everything is just fine!”

She shut it down and turned to Melanie, glaring daggers. 

Melanie pouted a little and muttered, “Spoilsport.”

“You just made a bloody fool of us both to the _entire_ train!” Ruth exclaimed, gesturing wildly, “Do you know how bad this is?!”

“You know you can be such a control freak sometimes Ruth? Learn to let go every once in a while,” Melanie snapped, sitting down in the chair at the booth at such an angle she nearly fell.

“Oh, you’re one to talk!” Ruth’s eyes narrowed, “You ran this bloody train! You almost got us all killed, what with pirating it and all!”

“I told you,” Melanie stood up quickly, swaying as she stepped close enough to poke the other woman in the chest, “I was just following Wilford’s guidelines.”

“Yeah, because you’re a coward who couldn’t just own up to what she’d done and come up with something better. If you really cared about everyone on this train so much then why didn’t you _do_ something about it?” Ruth argued, “And don’t poke me!”

“I never asked for any of this!” Melanie yelled, “And I will poke you if I want to, you’re being _very_ pokeable right now!”

“Fine then, I’ll just shove you,” Ruth declared as she shoved her towards the desk, “Your dishonesty wreaked havoc on this train and all our lives!”

“Don’t you think that I know that?” Melanie’s voice broke, and she was too drunk to hold back her tears, “I lost my daughter Ruth. _Again_. She’s gone for real this time and nothing I do will ever bring her back. I got her back and I failed her again.”

Ruth stepped back, breathing shakily, “Melanie, I’m sorry. I am. I really am.”

Melanie sniffled, “I’m sorry too, Ruth. I meant it every time I told you.”

Ruth’s arms were around her faster than she could process it, the other woman burying her face in her shoulder. Melanie’s hands wrapped around her back, holding her tightly as her sobbing subsided.

“I’m tired of hurting each other,” Ruth admitted finally.

“Me too,” Melanie agreed, “And I did make a fool out of us. I’m sorry. I’ll go on tomorrow and make amends for it at the morning announcement.”

“Sounds good to me,” Ruth sighed with relief that she wouldn’t have to patch things up on her own.

Melanie opened her mouth again to reply but they were startled apart by heavy knocking at the door. They looked at each other like deer caught in headlights, wondering who had decided to come after the announcement Melanie had made.

“Mel? It’s me, open up,” Bennett called.

“Shit,” Melanie groaned.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it,” Ruth began stumbling towards the door. She opened it so hard she would have fallen if Bennett hadn’t caught her.

“Easy there now,” he steadied her, “Ruth? What’s going on here?”

“Hi?” Melanie tried, waving awkwardly with the empty whiskey bottle she’d just picked up.

“Bloody hell,” he let out an exasperated noise, “What made you think getting wasted on a Tuesday was a good idea? You were supposed to be at the helm almost an hour ago. Javi is pissed.”

“Miss Audrey?” she hated how every response came out like a question, but she couldn’t exactly help it when Bennett was chastising them like misbehaving children.

“What the hell does she have to do with any of this?” Bennett’s voice was becoming increasingly frantic as he realized exactly _how_ drunk both women were.

“She thought it would help us bond again if we got really wasted together,” Ruth supplied helpfully, “The whiskey was free.”

“Did you drink less than her?” he interrogated Ruth.

“No,” Ruth’s brow furrowed, “Maybe _just_ a little. But not a significant amount.”

“Then how the hell are you more sober?” he demanded.

“I haven’t eaten since 06:00,” Melanie confessed, “She ate at 13:00. She’s always very… shit, I don’t know the word-she’s always on time for meals. We both missed dinner.”

“It’s true,” Ruth nodded sagely, attempting to convince Bennett of this very important fact.

“Right then,” he stared off in the distance, pondering how this situation was real, hoping it was just some really fucked up dream he’d wake up from soon, sleeping in bed next to a sober Melanie, “Alright. Here’s what we’re going to do: I’m going to escort you _both_ to get some food. Then I’m taking Ruth home, and calling to find someone to look after her. After that we’re going to the engine to beg Javi to cover the entire night at the helm because Mel, you are way too drunk to be left alone right now, and I’m afraid you’ll give yourself a concussion sitting up in your old bunk.”

“Can we stop by a bathroom first?” Ruth implored, a hopeful expression on her face.

Bennett just sighed, shook his head, pinched the bridge of his nose and murmured, “Sure.”

Their plans settled, they left.

-o-o-o-

“ _Fuck_ Clay and Miss Audrey,” Melanie groaned, still hovering over the toilet she’d just thrown up in as Bennett held her hair back, “I am _never_ listening to their advice again. _Never_. I don’t think I’ve been this hungover in my entire _life_.”

Bennett moved his hand down to rub soothingly at her back, satisfied for the time being that her stomach was too empty for her to vomit again, “We should probably check on Ruth. I’d imagine she’s having a hard time too.”

Melanie flushed the toilet and shuffled to lean back against the wall opposite where Bennett was sitting, furrowing her brow as a memory resurfaced, “Who _did_ you manage to get to babysit her?”

“Miss Audrey,” he grinned, “I told her she created this mess, and that she had to do her part in fixing it by making sure Ruth didn’t die from alcohol poisoning or choking on her own vomit.”

“Gross,” Melanie wrinkled her nose, “Give me half an hour to get ready and we’ll go try to find Ruth.”

After she had rinsed her mouth and made her way back to the main room, Melanie stood in front of Bennett’s dresser, staring blankly at the open drawer where she kept some of her things. Sensing she was having difficulty processing what she was seeing, Bennett came over, gently pushing her aside as he rummaged through her things to find something suitable for her to wear.

“Here,” he shoved the clothes in her arms, “Shower fast and get dressed. You’re not coming near the engine today. I’ve got your afternoon shift _and_ Javi’s morning shift.”

She winced, “Shit, Ben. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

“I know,” he scrubbed a hand over his face, “You’ll find a way to make it up to me.”

“I will cover your next _three_ shifts after today,” she promised him, then leaned up to whisper another promise in his ear.

“Oh, right then,” he exhaled shakily, blushing a bit, “Though I think today is maybe not the best day for that.”

“You’re probably right,” she conceded, then made her way to the bathroom to get ready for the day.

When she reentered the main room she asked Bennett, “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” he answered, “Where do you think she is?”

“Hospitality office,” Melanie winced as she remembered in full detail her announcement and her promise to make an explanation announcement, “I have to make an announcement. God, _never_ let us drink in the hospitality office again.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s already a rule, Mel,” he chuckled, as he stood and placed a hand at the small of her back to gently steer her towards the door.

The only eventful part of their walk to the hospitality office was Melanie wincing at the sun through the windows, eventually burying her face in Bennett’s shoulder to shield herself from it. When they finally arrived, she keyed them in without knocking, figuring they were well past the point of having enough dignity to care about politeness. Ruth sat near the microphone, head in her hands.

“I’m just making this one announcement, and then it’s back to bed for me,” her voice was muffled by her position, “Took you long enough.”

“Yeah, well,” Melanie’s voice was her usual brand of sarcastic rather than truly spiteful, “I was throwing up more than I’ve eaten in twenty four hours. The sun hurts _a lot_ right now so be nice to me.”

Ruth, in a rare display of childishness brought forth by a killer hangover, flipped her off before waving her forward and saying, “Come on then, let’s just get this over with.”

Bennett watched in amusement as they huddled together to discuss what exactly they’d tell the train about what had happened last night. They stood close, and their whispers seemed like the type between two close friends. He was glad they’d made up. Even if it meant he was working sixteen hours straight and had had to make sure Melanie made it to the toilet before she threw up this morning. 

He had to contain his laughter against his hand when they started, both of them awkwardly explaining how they’d come to their predicament last night-not in full detail, like Melanie had given him earlier, but in enough detail that the citizens of Snowpiercer would know just how _human_ the people working at the front of the train were.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all liked it. :) Now, for the explanation:
> 
> I was eboard for the largest/oldest LGBT+ organization on my campus. There were several other groups, a university run center, and subgroups within that center. None of them got along. N o n e. It was like walking in with a pizza to everything on fire when I got elected onto the eboard (my position was just basically, we'll delegate tasks to you and you have no specific role, though I was also kind of training to be PR).
> 
> So anyways, cut to September 2018, I've been in this shitstorm for seven months. One of the other organizations in particular doesn't like us, thinks we're too elitist or something. They made some valid points, which we did try to work on. We want to collab with them and have better relations, so someone-I honestly cannot remember who-came up with the galaxy brain idea of "well, let's all get really drunk together, because maybe if we're all stupid together we'll get along better". This party happens, except the eboard of the other club is running late, so our club decides hm, let's play three drinking games in one and a half to two hours, using a mixed drink. You can see where this is about to RAPIDLY go downhill. Anyways by the time the other people show up, we're so fucking wasted one girl is grabbing the LIT END of a joint she got from who knows where. It's bad. I spend the night switching between English and my second language and freaking out because I keep forgetting that I have hair and wonder why my head is fuzzy on top. Bad. Never been so hungover in my life. Did work though. But please for the love of god do not try this shit at home it fucking SUCKS.


End file.
